Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Badgers In Prime Time

The University of Wisconsin football team will play consecutive home games at night this fall -- against Ohio State and Penn State -- on national television.The Big Ten Conference made it official Wednesday in announcing the conference's prime-time television lineup for the 2008 football season.The Badgers will host Ohio State on Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 and Penn State on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. on ESPN or ESPN2. UW is coming off a fourth straight season with at least nine wins, the longest streak of success in school history. Ohio State is aiming for a fourth straight Big Ten Championship and an unprecedented third consecutive outright crown after reaching the BCS National Championship game the last two seasons.The Big Ten will be featured in prime time during the opening weekend of conference action on Saturday, Sept. 27, when Penn State hosts Illinois at 7 p.m. CT on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. The Fighting Illini defeated the nationally-ranked Nittany Lions last season on the way to their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1984.After the back-to-back dose of the Badgers, the Big Ten's late-afternoon/early-evening appearances will continue on Oct. 18 when Penn State hosts Michigan for a 3:30 p.m. CT game to appear on ESPN or ESPN2.The Big Ten's final prime-time outing on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 will feature Penn State at Ohio State on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. CT. The 113th season of Big Ten football kicks off on Saturday, August 30, with 10 of 11 schools in action -- including the Badgers, who host Akron. The starting time for that game has yet to be announced. I would imagine Badger Tickets for those games are going to Hot.